The first residents are moving into a Disney-designed neighborhood in the Coachella Valley, Cotino, this spring.
Cotino is the first master-planned Storyliving by Disney community, located in Rancho Mirage, more than 100 miles from Disneyland in Anaheim. The Walt Disney Company says the 618-acre property is “inspired by world-famous Disney placemaking.”
“Imagine just picking up Disneyland’s castle and putting it in the desert,” says freelance journalist Megan duBois, who covers the Walt Disney Company. “That’s basically what’s happening with Storyliving by Disney at Cotino.”
So far, the first few homes are ready for residents. In total, the development has space for 1,900 single-family homes and condominiums.
But the price to live there is steep. Two-bedroom cottages start in the upper $1 million range, while the largest estates — with 7,200-square-feet floor plans — are going for more than $4 million. A chunk of the homes will be set aside for adults 55+.
The new community is being billed as a “creative oasis” for Disney fans.
“If you're that person who loves Disney and wants to have that Disney home, with that Disney level of guest service at your club, at the front of the neighborhood, this is the spot for you,” duBois says.
The neighborhood’s highlight will be a 24-acre man-made lake, Cotino Bay. Eventually, the town’s center will have Disney-inspired restaurants, shopping, and several parks. Members of a private club will have access to a waterfront clubhouse, event space, and creative studio, staffed by so-called Disney Castmembers.
Concept art of Disney’s new planned community in Rancho Mirage, Cotino, around a 24-acre man-made lake called Cotino Bay. Courtesy of Disney.
So why pick the Coachella Valley? “Walt Disney actually owned a home in this area, so that’s why Walt Disney Imagineering and the team that’s building out Cotino picked this area for this planning community,” duBois says. “Walt Disney was a man who loved nature and loved getting out to explore.”
She says Walt Disney long tried to create insulated communities – starting with EPCOT at Walt Disney World, which technically stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.
“EPCOT was originally built and planned as this perfect community of tomorrow. People would live there, they would work there, grocery stores would be there,” duBois says. “Obviously that's not what the experience is for guests today. But Walt really thought that we could have these planned communities.”
She also points to two other communities by Disney to showcase the entertainment giant’s growing interest in real estate – Celebration, a planned development outside Orlando once owned by Disney, and Golden Oak, a small neighborhood inside Walt Disney World.
“Golden Oak has multi-million dollar homes that are just beautiful, almost like what Cotino is going to offer to the people that are moving in there,” duBois says. “So this isn't [Disney’s] first venture into real estate. I would say that the test launch was Celebration and Golden Oak. Disney saw that it worked, and they're wanting to expand their footprint.”
Disney’s development partner, DMB Development, also recently bought the first chunk of land that will make up a second Storyliving by Disney community in North Carolina, Asteria.
4/22/25 Update: A previous version of this story mislisted the number of homes ready for residents, as well as the number of homes and condominiums that will be built in the neighborhood. The first few homes are ready for residents and the development has space for 1,900 homes and condominiums. The previous version of the story also misstated that the town’s center will have a waterfront clubhouse. That has been corrected to say access to the waterfront clubhouse will be available to members of a private club. Lastly, a version of the story said Disney purchased land in North Carolina. It has been corrected to say Disney’s development partner, DMB Development, purchased the land.